Foreword

The venture capital industry is globalizing. Funds are being raised internationally and invested globally. Venture capital is now a recognized asset class for fund managers. More and more venture capital firms have established multinational operations. The leading venture capital firms are becoming renowned household names.

Venture capital fund management firms have matured. Their investment policies, procedures, and systems have been refined over decades of experience, and are becoming formalized and structured. Venture capital fund management and investment is fast becoming a professional practice, like an accounting or legal practice. 

More and more universities and financial training institutions worldwide conduct venture capital courses, or have private equity and venture capital electives in their business administration, entrepreneurship, or finance courses, at undergraduate or post-graduate levels, such as those in Harvard, Wharton, and Stanford, and many in Europe, Japan, Australia, and elsewhere.

The purpose of this book is to contribute to the advancement of professionalism in venture capital fund management and investment practices and to add to the growing educational literature and training materials on the practice.

There are many books teaching entrepreneurs how to raise funds from venture capital firms. There are also many that tell interesting war stories and experiences of venture capitalists. There are fewer books on the venture capital investment practice, aimed at venture capital investment professionals and students who wish to join the venture capital industry. However, such practitioner-targeted books usually focus only on isolated aspects of the venture capital investment practice, such as due diligence, deal structuring, or valuation. With the emergence of venture capital investment as a professional practice, there is urgent need for a comprehensive and integrated book on the practice, for practitioners and would-be practitioners.